Powder-divider



(No Model.)

T. H. NAN 0E. POWDER DIVIDER.

No. 597,188. Patented Jan. 11, 1898.

m I v lgxyzgion 1 i 1 7 Zr Hdiigzsszs 5 VI UNITED STATES PATENT Fries.

TURNER HUNT NANCE, OF TALLADEGA, ALABAMA.

POWDER-DlVlDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 597,188, dated January11, 1898.

Application filed June 16, 1896. Serial No. 595,806. (No model.)

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, TURNER HUNT NANCE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Talladega, in the county of Talladega and State of Alabama,have invented a new and useful Means for Dividing Powder, &c., of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for dividin g powders and othersubstances into any required equal number of parts, and is designedespecially for the pharmacist, to facilitate filling prescriptionsrequiring a given quantity of medicament to be subdivided into arequired number of parts of equal bulk.

For a full understanding of the merits and advantages of the inventionreference is to be had to the accompanying drawings and the followingdescription. a

The improvement is susceptible of various changes in the form,proportion, and the minor details of construction without departing fromthe principle or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof, and to afull disclosure-of the invention an adaptation thereof is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of theimproved means for attaining the objects of this invention. Fig. 3 is atransverse section thereof, showing the blade released. Fig. 3 is adetail view in section of the adjustable gate. Fig. 4: is a view similarto Fig. 2, showing a different construction. Fig. 5 is a detail view ofa leveler for uniformly distributing the powder or substance to besubdivided in the trough. Fig. dis a side elevation of a different formof blade for penetrating and dividing the powder or substance to beseparated. Fig. '7 isa cross-section of the gate on the line X X of Fig.3. Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of the slide, blade, andconnections. Fig. 9 is'aview of the clip for holding the arms together.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in the several views of the drawings by thesame reference-characters.

The device consists, essentially, of a trough for containing the powderor substance to be divided and a blade to coiiperate with the trough forseparating the substance into the required number of parts, the latterbeing determined by properly-graduated scales imstrengthen and stiffenthe latter and at the same time provide forthe reception of graduatedscales 3, by means of which the powder or other substance to be parceledcan be subdivided into an yrequired number of equal parts. Thegraduations or scales on one lip orflange will indicate small divisions,whereas the scales on the opposite lip or flange will denote largedivisions, the scale being selected which will meet the requirement. Thelower por tion of the trough is cut away at the delivery end, as shownat l, to provide for the escape of the portion of the powder orsubstance separated, and a stop 5 is located at the delivery end tolimit the movement of the slide 6, carrying the blade 7, by means ofwhich the separating or subdividing of the substance is effected. Thestop 5 is constructed ofalen gth of wire which is doubled upon itselfand formed into an eye 8 at the fold, so as to afford a finger-grip, andhas the portions upon opposite sides of the eye projecting in oppositedirections and the terminal portions 9 bent so as to extend parallelwith each other and extend through openings provided in the rear endportions bordering upon the cut-away part 4:.

The trough is open at its rear end and is closed at its opposite orfront end by a gate 10, which in elevation approximates the form of thetrough in cross-section, so as to snugly fit therein. This gate ismovable, so it can be set to correspond with the zero of either scale orso it can be adjusted to any required point in the length of the trough,thereby obviating the necessity of moving the fractional part of apowder or substance the full length of the trough when subdividing thesame. The gate is formed so as to have a space at its upper end throughwhich extends a strip 11, having its end portions 12 recurved or bent,so as to embrace the lips or flanges 2'. A threaded stem ldextends fromthe strip 11 and passes loosely through an opening in the tionsl5 bentor recurved, so to embrace the lips or flanges 2, by means of which theslide is. held inplace upon the trough; Arms,

16 and 17 have connection with the'slide 6 r I and are, united .so as tomove relatively to eachother, the lower arm 16 being attached directlyto the slide, and the upper arm 17 having an elastic connection with theouter end of thearm 16, whereby the inner or free end of the said. arm17 will normally stand.

away from the slide and" the corresponding end of the arm 16. I The arm17 has alug 18, to which is connected the blade 7, the latter .beingconstructedso as to snugly t within the trough and'touchthe bottom'andsides thereof, so as to thoroughly separate the portion of the powder orsubstance divided by projecting the blade across the space formed}between the bottom and sides of the. trough. A post 19 is secured to'thcslide and projects about at right an gles therefrom ,and is thread ed atits upper or outer end and receives a button or nut 20. The end of the31111.17 is notched to receive the post 19, thereby direct- I I ing'the'arm 17 in its movements, whereby the blade 7 in. its upward or outwardmovement will be held so as to bear against the adjacent edge of theslide, which latter serves as a scraper to remove any powder orsubstance which may tend to cling or adhere to the blade when the latteris moving, so as free the portion separated. The arms 16 and 17 may formparts of a stout strip, which latter is reduced at the fold, so as toprovide a spring or elastic connection, whereby the arms will normallystand apart and thereby move the blade 7 outward when released.

In Fig. 4 the arms 16 and 17 are connected by a hinge-joint 2]. and areheld apart by an interposed spring 22, which latter is retained in placeby having teats 23 on the inner or opposing sides of the arms enter theends of the spring 22. The blade '7 may be attached to the arm 17similar to the manner of connecting the blade with the arm 17, or in anyconvenient way, and, as shown, the lug is dispensed with and the bladehas direct attachment with the arm, being soldered or brazed thereto.hen leveling the powder or substance in the trough, it is essential thatthe blade '7 be retained within the trough, so as to close the latter,and to effect this result suitable means are resorted to, and, as shownin Fig. 4, the same consists of a catch 24, which latter is hinged orpivoted to the slide 6 and is adapted to engage over the free end of thearm 17*, and in Fig. 1 the said means consists of aclip 25,.which 1sconstructed of a lei'igth of wire bent so as to embrace the armsltl and17 and havinga projecting portion to be grasped between, the fingerswhen placing the clipinpositionorremoving it from the arms. I 1 In orderto secure the advantages of the invention, the powderor substance tobesubdivided must be leveled in the trough, and as the depth will varyaccording to the bulk of the substance and the number of portions I intowhich it is to be'subdivided so different leveler-s must be provided toproject into the trough the required distance. As shown in 1 Fig; 5, theleveler consists of a plate having a series. of points 26grouped about acommon center,the points 26 corresponding to I ber of equal parts isplaced within the trough between the gate 10 and the blade 7, the latterbeing held projected across the trough by the retaining means hereindescribed, or in anyway so asto secure the desired end. .means oftheleveler the SHbSDLBCB'lS uniformly distributed throughout. the troughbego, I.

tween the gate and blade, the required point of the levelerbeingselected so as to dis-trlbute the substance smoothly and uniformly andto I an equal depth throughout the portionof the trough located betweenthe gate and blade. The arm carrying the blade is now released and theblade will springoutward, and by moving the slide to the required point,which may be determined by the scale previously selected, and'moving theblade inward a portion of the substance will be divided, and by slidingthe part 6 toward the delivery end of the trough the portion previouslyseparated will be discharged from the trough through the escape providedby the cut-away part 4. This operation is repeated until the substancehas been subdivided.

In order to facilitate the positioning of the slide, the edges of thelips or flanges 2 are nicked at points corresponding to the graduations,so that the nail of the forefinger or any finger of the hand may enterthe nick, and thus provide a stop to limit the movement of the slidewhen moving it to a new position prior to depressing the blade forseparating or dividing the substance. In some instances the blade 7' maybe provided with a handle 27, thereby providing a means for separatingthe substance independent of the blade carried by the slide, and a handdevice of this character is clearly illustrated in Fig. 6.

The manner of providing and noting the graduations is immaterial so longas it serves to facilitate the subdividing of the substance to beparceled.

Having thus described the invention,what is claimed as new is 1. In apowder-divider, the combination with a trough, of a gate movablelongitudina-lly of the trough, a strip having engagement at its endswith the sides of the trough, and means attached to and carried by thegate and strip for positively moving them relatively to each other inopposite directions to cause them to bind against the trough,substantially as set forth for the purpose specified,

2. In a powder-divider, the combination of a trough having graduatedscales along its edges, a strip spanning the sides of the trough andhaving its end portions bent to engage with the edges thereof, a gatehaving a bent portion to extend across the said strip, means attached toand carried by the said gate and strip for positively moving themrelatively to each other in opposite directions, whereby they are causedto bind against the trough and are held in place, and a dividingblademovable along the trough and-properly positioned by the aforesaidgraduated scales, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a powder-divider, the combination of a trough having outwardlyextending flanges, a strip spanning the trough and having its ends bentto embrace the said flanges, agate mounted upon the strip, a threadedstem extending from the strip and passing loosely through an opening inthe end of the gate, and a thumb-nut mounted upon the threaded extremityof the stem, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination with a trough, of a slide movable upon the trough,arms having connection with the slide and normally held apart by aspring action, and a blade carried by the outer arm and adapted to beprojected into the trough, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

5. The combination with a trough, a slide movable upon the trough, andarms having connection with the slide and normally held apart by aspring action, of a blade carried by the outer arm, and means forholding the two arms together and the blade Within the trough,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination with a trough, of a slide, arms having connectionwith the slide and held apart by a spring action, ablade car ried by theouter arm, and a post projecting from the slide and engaging with theouter arm so as to direct it in its movements, substantially as setforth.

i In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have heretoaffixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

TURNER HUNT NANCE.

\Vitnesses:

J NO. H. Hrons, JAs. H. HAYDEN.

